Expansion unit tor refrigerating apparatus



F. W. WOLF.

EXPANSION UNIT FOR REFRIGERATING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-29 I9 l7.

1,324,868. Patented D00. 16, 1919.

i 15 A I I 44 456563?! y jwflfor c [Emu/[airy FRED W. WOLF, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EXPANSION UNIT FOR REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

Application filed September 29, 1917. Serial No. 193,899.

To all whom it mm concern:

lie it known t rat I, FRED W. WOLF, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook'and State of Illinois, have invented Improved Expansion Units for Refrigerating Apparatus; and I' do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to. an improved expansion unit for refrigerating apparatus and consists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The object of the invention is to provide an expansion unit capable of being placed within the cooling compartn'ient of a domestic or other refrigerator box, and which is so constructed that it will not only cool said compartment but will also provide a smaller compartment within and insulated from said cooling compartment, wherein a freezing temperature may be maintained for the purpose of freezing such articles as ]S desired.

Other objects as well as the several advantage of my improved expansion unit -will be more apparent as I proceed with my specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates a fragmentary perspective view of a domestic refrigerator box, showing my improved expansion unit as it appears in place, in the cooling compartment of said box.

Fig. 2 illustrates a front view of my improved expansion unit with the'front closure removed therefrom.

Fig. 3 illustrates a side View of the'same with the top part, broken away to more clearly show the interior thereof.

Referring now to that embodiment of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 5 indicates a refrigerator box of the domestic type, which hasthe usual cooling chambers 6 and 7 respectively, closed by doors in a familiar manner. One of said chambers, namely, the chamber 6 is usually the ice receiving chamber of said box.

8 indicates as a whole, my improved expansion unit which is adapted to be placed within the chamber 6 and to rest upon the floor thereof, to take the place of ice for cooling the box, said unit being connected with a suitable refrigerating machine as will presently appear.

Said expansion unit includes a casing which is of'height depth and which has inner and outer sheet metal shells 9 and 10 respectively, spaced a suitable distance apart, so as to receive a packing of suitable insulating material 11 between them. As shown, said casing is open at its front end and has an upright back wall 12, upright side wall 13, 13 and semi-cylindric top and bottom walls 14 and 15 respectively. Suitable feet 16, 16, are made integral with the bottom of the casing to provide a flat base upon which said casing will stand in an upright position upon the floor of the chamber 6.

17 indicates a closure for the open front of the casing. Said closure includes a top part 17 which is fixed to the front edge of the casing by means of suitable studs and associated nuts, and a bottom part 17' which is hinged to the bottom edge of the other part, preferably by means of spring hinges 18, so that said bottom part which provides a door for the casing is always held in a closed position against accidental opening. Said closure 17 is made of double shells with suitable insulation between them.

Within the casing 8 and fixed to the inner shell 9 by suitable clips 19 is a coil of tubing 20. The. inlet end 21 of said coil is coil-i nected to the discharge side of an expansion valve '22 located within the casing, near the semi-cylindric top wall 14. Said expansion valve is connected by a pipe 23 which extend through said top wall of the casing, with the liquld receiver of a refrigerating machine, not shown..

The outlet end 24 of said coil 20 projects through a recess or notch 25 formed in one of the side walls 13, near its front edge and connects with the inlet end of a second coil of tubing 26 which is looped about the outer shell 10 of the casing, The discharge end 27 of said coil is located near the-back wall of the casing and is connected to the return line of the refrigerating machine. The passage of the refrigerating medium is thus, from the refrigerating machine through the pipe 23, into the expansion valve 24, which is automatic in its operation, to admit the refrigerating medium into the inlet end 21 of the inner coil 20. The refrigerating medium then passes through the entire length of said coil and then discharges into the outer coil 26 to be delivered to the refrigerating machine, to be used ove' again in the usual manner.

It will be apparent that as the refrigerating medium passes through the coils, said coils will absorb or take up the heat from the surrounding atmosphere, and as the interior of the casing is much smaller in cubic area than is the cubic area of the cooling chambers in the box 5, and can be isolated and closed off from said chambers, a much lower temperature can be had and maintained within the casing than can be maintained in the cooling compartment of the box 5 in which it is located. Thus there is provided within the cooling chamber (3, a freezing chamber wherein ice for table use and frozen desserts may be made.

My improved expansion unit possesses many advantages. It provides a unitary structure which may be placed within the usual ice chamber of domestic refrigerator boxes, to cool the box to the desired degree of temperature suitable to the preservation of foodstuffs and at the same time, without additional expense, provides a suitable freezmentioned. The interior of the casing provides a sharp cold chamber, which in no manner affects the desired temperature in the cooling compartment 6 of the box 5.

My expansion unit together with the expansion valve, may be fully assembled before placing the unit into the refrigerator box, the casing acting as a guard to protect the "expansion valve against breakage.

lVhile in describing my invention I have referred to certain details in the mechanical construction and in the form and arrangement of the parts, I do not wish to be limited thereto except as may be pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An expansion unit for refrigerating apparatus comprising a casing having insulation walls, means providing a door closure in one of the said walls, and means on the inside and on the outside of said walls through which a refrigerating medium may be circulated.

2. An expansion unit for refrigerating apparatus, comprising a casing having insulation walls, means providing a door closure in one of the said walls, a coil of tubing on the inside of said casing wall, and a coil of tubing on the outside of said casing wall, said coils being adapted to have a refrigerating medium circulated through them.

3. An expansionunit for refrigerating mg compartment for the purposes beforeapparatus, comprising a casing having insulation walls, means providing a door closure in one of the said walls, a coil of tubing on the inside of the said casing wall, and a coil of tubing on the outside of said casing wall, said coils being connected in series and being adapted to have a refrigerating medium circulated through them.

4. An expansion unit for refrigerating apparatus comprising a casing having insulation walls, means providing a door closure in one of said walls, a coil of tubing on the inside of said casing wall, a coil of tubing on the outside of said casing wall, said coils being adapted to have a refriger ating medium circulated through them, and means associated with the tubing on the inside of said casing wall for controlling the admission of said refrigerating medium into said coils.

5. An expansion unit for refrigerating apparatus, comprising a casing having insulation walls, means providing a door closure in one of said walls, a coil of tubing on the inside of said casing wall, a coil of tubing on the outside of said casing wall. said coils being connected together and being adapted to have a refrigerating medium circulated through them, and an expansion valve within the casing adapted to control the admission of therefrigerating medium into said coils.

6. An expansion unit for refrigerating apparatus comprising a casing open in front and having a back wall, side walls and rounded top and bottom walls, all of said walls being insulation walls, means providing a flat base for said casing, means providing a closure including a door for the open front of said casing, a coil of tubing secured to the inside of said sides and top and bottom walls, a second coil of tubing on the outside of said sides and top and bottom walls, said coils being connected together in series and being adapted to have a refrigerating medium circulated through them, and an expansion valve within the casing and connected to the coil of tubing on the inside of the casing, said expansion valve controlling the admission of the refrigerating medium into said coils.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 11th day-of August A. D. 1917.

FRED W. WVOLF.

lVitnesses:

T. H. ALFREDS, KARL W. Dow. 

